‘Homeland Stupidity’ creator sues NSA, DHS

A designer from Minnesota is suing the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security for attempting to take down his parody products.

Earlier this year, 38-year-old Dan McCall, owner of the website
LibertyManiacs.com, was selling T-shirts and other items
featuring parodied logos of both the NSA and DHS on the online
merchandising platform Zazzle. One logo read, “NSA: The only part
of government that actually listens,” while another stated,
“Department of Homeland Stupidity.”

Although these logos were intended as satire, McCall was informed
by Zazzle that the products violated its guidelines and that they
would have to be removed. Eventually, it was discovered that the
NSA and DHS had sent a cease-and-desist order to Zazzle in 2011,
threatening it with legal action should it sell products
featuring government seals without permission.

Now, with the help of the public advocacy group Public Citizen,
McCall is taking action of his own. Attorney Paul Alan Levy has
filed a lawsuit claiming that under the First Amendment, McCall
has the right to parody government offices like the NSA and DHS.
Rather than seek monetary compensation, McCall is asking a judge
to recognize the legal status of parodies so that third parties
like Zazzle won’t be intimidated in the future.

The lawsuit also argues that laws banning anyone from
“mutilating or altering” any seal of any agency in the
U.S. government are unconstitutional.

"Here we have a First Amendment problem [the NSA and DHS] have
created by heavy-handed actions in response to criticism,"
Levy said to the Washington Examiner. "We don't know what
other threats these agencies have sent out in response to
parodies. … These agencies need to be brought in line to respect
these people's free speech rights."

In a statement online, Levy added that, “It’s bad enough that
these agencies have us under constant surveillance; forbidding
citizens from criticizing them is beyond the pale.”

For his part, McCall, who lives in Sauk Rapids, MN, says that he
wants to make it safer for artists to create what they want
without fearing litigation.

"I'm just a little guy that happens to be in a little business
up here, and I feel like they're just going around and
threatening," McCall said to the Examiner. “I want to
basically clear the way for the others so we know where we stand
when we're telling jokes or creating parodies.”